Download or read book Project CHECO Southeast Asia Report USAF Tactical Reconnaissance in Southeast Asia July 69 June 71 written by and published by . This book was released on 1971 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beginning with a single C-47 Gooneybird in 1961, the USAF reconnaissance effort in Southeast Asia (SEA) has steadily expanded to keep pace with the increasing U.S. military role in the conflict. While the two previous CHECO reports on this subject examined USAF SEA tactical air reconnaissance from 1961 through June 1969, this report describes new equipment, technology, tactics, the relocation and deactivation of principal units, and the modernization of the VNAF aerial reconnaissance program. Although this report deals only with USAF efforts, the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Marine forces have been important elements of tactical reconnaissance in SEA.

Download or read book United States Air Force Tactical Reconnaissance in Southeast Asia written by Robert F. Colwell and published by . This book was released on 1971 with total page 93 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Project CHECO Southeast Asia Report Reconnaissance in SEAsia Jul 1966 Jun 1969 written by and published by . This book was released on 1969 with total page 74 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The traditional interpretation of the tactical reconnaissance mission as a highly mobile, self-sufficient operation prepared to "know continuously the enemy's capabilities and location" has been reemphasized by the recent military experience in Southeast Asia. A premium has been placed by several factors on the element of surprise, on detection of an enemy able to conceal himself more effectively than ever before, and on the most rapid possible response to requirements established by ground and air forces. Many axioms guiding reconnaissance organization and operations in the past have been reexamined and questioned in the light of conditions encountered in Southeast Asia. The task of providing "needed intelligence information during all phases and for the full spectrum of conflict" has created special problems yet to be fully resolved. This report reviews the expansion and growth in sophistication of the tactical reconnaissance mission in Southeast Asia (SEA) conducted by the United States Air Force from June 1966 to June 1969, noting at the same time the salient problems involved. Tactical reconnaissance emphasizes flexibility in its organization and operation; it can be deployed in package units or through various combinations of reconnaissance aircraft, sensors, and other detection devices as required by the joint force. The Wing, therefore, constitutes the basic tactical unit, small enough to fulfill mobility requirements and still provide from its own resources all the services of a tactical reconnaissance system. The broad scope of the Wing's mission can be seen in a summary of the work of the 432d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing (TRW) at Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base (RTAFB).

Download or read book Project CHECO Southeast Asia Report USAF Reconnaissance in Southeast Asia 1961 66 written by and published by . This book was released on 1966 with total page 119 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reconnaissance can be defined as the act of observing the enemy for the purpose of obtaining information about him and his activities. In the past, it has been called "the eyes of the commander," but it has become more than that. Reconnaissance now includes not only visual, but also photographic, infra-red, electronic, and communications intelligence, to name the major areas. Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of reconnaissance in Southeast Asia is the flexibility and imagination shown by Americans, civilian and military, in developing new means of gaining intelligence. Some of these methods involved new equipment, but most were an adaptation of existing equipment to new environments. Thus, the Air Force has developed and is continuing to develop, in Southeast Asia, tactics for reconnaissance in counterinsurgency operations in an hostile environment of surface-to-air missiles. The prominence of imagination does not mean that more classic military virtues were ignored. In terms of professionalism, the reconnaissance pilots particularly, and support personnel in general, were probably the best educated and trained the United States has ever sent to war. In dedication, hard work and courage, they have continued the highest traditions of the U.S. Air Force. Before the advent of the airplane, reconnaissance was accomplished by patrolling - the recon platoon or company, the cavalry troop or squadron. The advantages of mobility, speed, and the elevated viewing platform provided by aircraft, have been so great that, today, reconnaissance is almost synonymous with aerial reconnaissance. This study will deal only with aerial reconnaissance and, in the interest of brevity, only with U.S. Air Force reconnaissance. This is not to indicate that the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Army, the Vietnamese Air Force (VNAF), and the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) have not played a major role. It merely means this paper is limited to presenting a history of "USAF Reconnaissance in Southeast Asia."

Download or read book Reconnaissance in SEAsia Jul 1966 Jun 1969 written by Edward P. Brynn and published by . This book was released on 1969 with total page 62 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Project CHECO Southeast Asia Report Search and Rescue Operations in SEA 1 January 1971 31 March 1972 written by and published by . This book was released on 1972 with total page 103 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the sixth report in a series by the Southeast Asia CHECO office on Search and Rescue operations. In preparing the fifth report-- the period covering July 1969 through December 1970--the author of that study felt that it would possibly be the last on the subject during the war in Vietnam. For that reason, he elected to summarize all Search and Rescue activities in Southeast Asia to present what had transpired in that area through 1970. The reader seeking background information on Search and Rescue in Southeast Asia is, therefore, referred to the previous CHECO publications on the subject, primarily USAF Search and Rescue in Southeast Asia--1 July 1969-31 December 1970, dated 23 April 1971. This continuation report is directed toward covering those significant events which took place during 1971 and the first quarter of 1972. While the report was being prepared, great changes were taking place in concepts and tactics for Search and Rescue operations. Some of the changes were a direct result of the unilateral withdrawal of US forces from Southeast Asia, while others were simply a result of finding better ways of doing things. It was true that when an aircraft was downed, practically all theater resources were made available for the rescue operation. However, the primary rescue-dedicated force was controlled by the 3rd Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Group. For that reason, the study places emphasis on the Group's operation, but the discussion will include, when applicable, the support offered by outside resources. Throughout the research phase, the author met with unlimited cooperation by everyone contacted. The overall impression, hopefully conveyed in the report, is that there has never been a group of people more dedicated to a goal than those associated with Search and Rescue in Southeast Asia. Although bitter failures and tragedies were encountered during the period, there were also unprecedented successes.

Download or read book Project CHECO Southeast Asia Report Short Rounds June 1968 May 1969 written by and published by . This book was released on 1969 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the parlance of artillerymen, a "Short Round" is a shell that falls short of the enemy and inflicts casualties on friendly troops. The expression is so starkly descriptive and brief that it has come to be used as a convenient label for most incidents wherein friendly ordnance causes friendly casualties. This report is concerned with air-delivered Short Rounds--specifically, those involving the fixed-wing aircraft under operational control of the Seventh Air Force Tactical Air Control Center (TACC). This third CHECO report On "Short Rounds" covers occurrences from June 1968 through May 1969. It emphasizes rates and trends, interesting corollaries, lessons learned, and recent attempts to eliminate Short Rounds. This study also examines several Short Round incidents to illustrate some of the problems encountered by ground commanders, forward air controllers (FACs), and strike aircraft commanders in their joint efforts to conduct close air support. Ground and air commanders at all levels are deeply concerned about the tragic results of Short Round incidents, and Strenuous efforts have been made to reduce the probability of such occurrences. To have achieved absolute immunity from Short Rounds, the ground forces would have had to sacrifice the benefits of air support whenever they were closely engaged with the enemy. These were hard choices to make, but nearly all of the situations dictated accepting the risk of Short Rounds to diminish the certain lethality of hostile fire.

Download or read book Project CHECO Southeast Asia Report Local Base Defense in RVN January 1969 June 1971 written by and published by . This book was released on 1971 with total page 37 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A few days after General Lucius D. Clay took command of the Seventh Air Force on 1 September 1970, he asked the question: "What actions are being taken by Seventh Air Force Headquarters when an increased threat is estimated at 7AF bases?" In reply the 7AF Director of Security Police (IGS) outlined the actions to be taken in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) to protect U.S. Air Force installations from enemy attacks, and delineated the responsibilities required to protect those installations. Among the many U.S. Air Force installations in the RVN were several listed as critical to the success of the mission of the United States Air Force in Southeast Asia. The installations specified (not necessarily in order of priority) were as follows: Tan Son Nhut Airfield and the Headquarters 7th Air Force complex; Bien Hoa Air Base; Cam Ranh Air Base; Nha Trang Air Base; Da Nang Airfield; Binh Thuy Air Base; Pleiku Airport; LORAN (Long Range Aerial Navigation) Facility at Tan My; Det 9, 619th TCS Control and Reporting Post (CRP) at Ban Me Thuot; Det 11, 619th TCS CRP on Hon Tre Island (near Nha Trang); Phan Rang Air Base; Phu Cat Air Base; and 620th TCS Control and Reporting Center (CRC) at Monkey Mountain (Da Nang). U.S. Air Force security forces, Free World Military Assistance Forces (FWMAF), and Republic of South Vietnam Armed Forces (RVNAF) shared the responsibility to protect these installations. This report discusses the following topics: intelligence, base defense, manning the defense, foliage, minefields, lights and illumination, fencing and wire, bunkers, revetments, dogs, personnel, Tactical Security Support Equipment (TSSE), Project Safe Look, standoff weapons attack, standoff attack at Nha Trang, standoff attack at Phu Cat, sapper attack, sapper reconnaissance, sapper standoff attack. A chronology of significant attacks from January 1969 to July 1971 is included.

Download or read book Project CHECO Southeast Asia Report USAF Search and Rescue November 1967 June 1969 written by and published by . This book was released on 1969 with total page 117 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When hostilities began in Southeast Asia, the Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Service was not fully prepared to enter into armed conflict. The assumption that wartime Search and Rescue (SAR) was an extension of peacetime SAR was in error. This was quickly recognized during the early days of the conflict. In 1964, the only rotary wing aircraft available to be deployed to SEA was the HH-43B assigned to the Local Base Rescue (LBR) units. The amphibious HU-16 and the HC-54 were the only fixed-wing aircraft available. Both these aircraft had a limited rescue and recovery capability. HC-54s, made available as command and control aircraft, were also limited in mission capability. The Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Service was forced to take helicopter aircraft from other Air Force missions to provide a partially adequate SAR capability in SEA. Even then it took three years to fully develop and position the required forces. In October 1965, six CH-3C helicopters, modified for combat rescue service, were deployed to SEA. After deployment and additional modifications, they were redesignated the HH-3E (Jolly Green Giant), and became increasingly responsible for the out-country Aircrew Recovery (ACR) mission in Laos, North Vietnam, and the Gulf of Tonkin. Twelve HH-43F (Pedros) were also configured for combat recoveries to augment the HH-43B which had been performing the out-country ACR mission since deployment in October 1964. By January 1967, HH-43 out-country missions had ended. The HC-54s were replaced by the HC-130H/P, a far more suitable aircraft for command and control. Quick access to a downed aircrew member was a crucial element in a successful recovery, but significantly faster helicopters were years away in development. Therefore, longer endurance was vitally necessary to enable the rescue craft to loiter on orbit nearer the areas in which aircraft were likely to be lost.

Download or read book Project CHECO Southeast Asia USAF Search and Rescue November 1967 June 1969 written by and published by . This book was released on 1969 with total page 117 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Project CHECO was established in 1962 to document and analyze air operations in Southeast Asia. Over the years the meaning of the acronym changed several times to reflect the escalation of operations: Current Historical Evaluation of Counterinsurgency Operations, Contemporary Historical Evaluation of Combat Operations and Contemporary Historical Examination of Current Operations. Project CHECO and other U.S. Air Force Historical study programs provided the Air Force with timely and lasting corporate insights into operational, conceptual and doctrinal lessons from the war in SEA.

Download or read book Project CHECO Southeast Asia Report The DASCs in II Corps Tactical Zone July 1965 June 1969 written by and published by . This book was released on 1969 with total page 53 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The DASCs in II Corps Tactical Zone" examines Tactical Air Control Systems (TACS) in II Corps, and assesses managers of airpower in II DASC and DASC Alpha, as well as resources, responsibilities, and procedures of these centers. Further, this CHECO report discusses the Direct Air Support Centers' role in providing immediate tactical air support for the ground forces operating in II Corps. It also includes information received from the DASCs themselves about effectiveness of their immediate support.

Download or read book Project CHECO Southeast Asia USAF Tactical Reconnaissance in Southeast Asia written by and published by . This book was released on 1971 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Project CHECO was established in 1962 to document and analyze air operations in Southeast Asia. Over the years the meaning of the acronym changed several times to reflect the escalation of operations: Current Historical Evaluation of Counterinsurgency Operations, Contemporary Historical Evaluation of Combat Operations and Contemporary Historical Examination of Current Operations. Project CHECO and other U. S. Air Force Historical study programs provided the Air Force with timely and lasting corporate insights into operational, conceptual and doctrinal lessons from the war in SEA.

Download or read book Project CHECO Southeast Asia Report Tactical Recon Photography Request Distribution written by and published by . This book was released on 1969 with total page 83 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seventh Air Force experienced simultaneous pressures to centralize its reconnaissance-intelligence resources for the air war in the North and to decentralize them for the ground war in the South. This paradox bred unorthodox offspring: a photo lab without lab technicians; a recce tech I squadron without permanent quarters; a squadron photo lab 270 miles from the squadron. This report recounts the measured acquiescence by Seventh Air Force to decentralization, and the compelling reasons of 7AF for going slow in implementing TAC RISE. With TAC RISE as the backdrop, the organization and function of the seven reconnaissance photo labs in SEA come into better perspective and illuminate the Army/Air Force systems for requesting, processing, and distributing reconnaissance film.

Download or read book Project CHECO Southeast Asia Report The Siege of Ben Het written by and published by . This book was released on 1969 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report briefly covers the tactical situation in the Ben Het area during May and June 1969--the enemy threat and the Allied defense. It describes USAF operations in the defense of Ben Het in detail, largely as seen through the eyes of those involved, along with the problems encountered and lessons learned.

Download or read book Project CHECO Southeast Asia Report Attack on Cam Ranh 25 August 1971 written by and published by . This book was released on 1971 with total page 97 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1965, as the United States became more actively involved in the Indochina War, the need arose for the construction of jet-capable airfields and logistical bases. The Cam Ranh Peninsula provided an ideal site for one of these bases, due to its central location on the South Vietnamese coast and its natural deep-water harbor. After the selection of the peninsula, construction progressed rapidly; Cam Ranh Bay Air Base became operational on the first of November, 1965. The Tri-Service Ammunition Storage Area, completed in October of 1966, provided Cam Ranh port facilities with the largest munitions storage area in the theatre. After the Tet Offensive of 1968, the Communists placed increased emphasis on economy-of-force tactics to inflict heavy losses on Allied equipment and personnel. The combined sapper and standoff attack against Cam Ranh Bay Air Base on 25 August, 1971 was one of the most successful enemy assaults in the Vietnam War. This Project CHECO report points out the continued potential effectiveness of enemy sapper attacks against most major SEA bases, and outlines some failures at Cam Ranh to meet the increased threat with adequate security measures. Cam Ranh Bay was but one of many such bases in the theatre. However, this report examines in detail the major and highly successful attack at Cam Ranh, and thereby illuminates the ingenuity and determination of the enemy in exploiting vulnerabilities of base defense. The report may lend perspectives to other attacks and elements of base defense.

Download or read book Project CHECO Southeast Asia Report The War in Vietnam July December 1967 written by and published by . This book was released on 1968 with total page 165 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The War in Vietnam--July - December 1967" summarizes and provides an overall look at the Air Force role in North and South Vietnam for the semi- annual period. It is a continuation of the summary of Air Force operations first detailed in "The War in Vietnam - 1965". ROLLING THUNDER gradually increased the weight of effort against a broadening, but still limited, target complex. The high incidence of radar-directed guns and SA-2s in the extended battle area also required changes in tactics by strike and reconnaissance forces. Close air support was instrumental in breaking the enemy attacks on Dak To, Loc Ninh, and Bo Duc, often by putting ordnance within 20 feet of prepared Allied positions. Airlift units retained their basic organizational structure and successfully supported the Allied requirements at Loc Ninh and Dak To. Flying safety was the paramount problem confronting the Vietnamese Air Force (VNAF), and by August, aircraft losses due to pilot error exceeded combat losses, until finally an intensive instrument training program was initiated. The denial of crops through herbicide destruction often placed a severe strain on the enemy supply system, forcing the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) out of their normal operating areas. Enemy attacks against air bases with a steadily improving rocket capability continued to present formidable problems. Successful efforts were made during the period to substantially increase the B-52 monthly sortie rate to keep pressure on the enemy's supply and infiltration system, while at the same time blocking his efforts to mass along the DMZ.

Download or read book Project CHECO Southeast Asia Report The Air War in Vietnam 1968 1969 written by and published by . This book was released on 1970 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The character of the U.S. military effort in Vietnam and the role of airpower in support of that effort changed markedly between January 1968--when the enemy launched his greatest offensive of the war--and December 1969, when the pace of the war had slowed appreciably. The enemy had suffered a major defeat in his early 1968 offensive; U.S. bombing of North Vietnam had been halted; and peace negotiations were begun in Paris. The out-country air effort shifted to strike against enemy infiltration routes in Southern Laos and support of Royal Lao Forces in Northern Laos. The U.S. and Allied ground forces in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) operated under a strategy emphasizing reconnaissance and undercutting the enemy infrastructure. The combination of air interdiction in Laos and ground and air attrition of the enemy logistics base and infrastructure in RVN gradually eroded the enemy's capabilities, allowing the RVN political and military establishments to expand control of the countryside and take a greater role in combat. This CHECO Report documents the role of airpower in this critical period of the war. It describes the various elements of the USAF air capability and how they were employed in support of United States strategy in Vietnam.